Tennis: Nadal finally has chance to finish year strongly

For all Rafael Nadal's undoubted brilliance, his performances tend to take a turn for the worse each year once Wimbledon is over.

You cannot blame the guy. There are no more Slams left on the road ahead and he is usually coming off gruelling runs at the French Open and, more recently, at SW19. Pounding away on the Roland Garros clay and lifting the trophy four years in a row takes its toll. As does reaching three straight Wimbledon finals - in 2008 he even found time to win at Queen's too. By the time mid-July arrives, the Spaniard is physically spent and his troublesome knees desperately need a rest.

But 2009 has not been a typical year for Rafa. It began in fine style with a gutsy triumph at the Australian Open, once more having the edge over Roger Federer. But injuries have plagued Nadal more than ever this year, particularly tendonitis in his knees, and he was not 100 percent at the French Open where he suffered a shock defeat - and his first ever at Roland Garros - to Robin Soderling in the Fourth Round.

Worse was to follow as injury denied him the chance to defend his Wimbledon title. After determined work with his medical team, Nadal managed to compete at the US Open - the last Slam he needs to complete his set - but ran into on-song Argentine Juan Martin Del Potro in the last four and lost in straight sets. An abdominal problem did little to help his cause.

However, the one positive point for Rafa after a disappointing season is that he has arrived at the last few events of the season in decent shape. A semi-finalist at the China Open and the Paris Masters and a finalist in the Shanghai Masters, Nadal is hitting his way back into form and stringing some results together in time to end 2009 on a high.

London is the Spaniard's next stop as he joins the likes of Federer, Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic for the ATP World Tour Finals. Drawn in the marginally-easier Group B alongside Nikolay Davydenko, Soderling and Djokovic, Nadal ought to reach the semi-finals and will have set his sights on the big prize. There is £1million up for grabs for the winner, assuming he wins all his matches along the way, and that would even trump Federer's Wimbledon prize money of £850,000.

For once, Nadal is not running on empty as the season draws to a close. In fact, he should be a good deal fresher than a number of his opponents. It would be just typical of the Spaniard's spirited approach if he brought the curtain down on a furstrating 2009 by lifting the trophy in London.